Baltasar Gracian
Baltasar Gracian
Baltasar Gracián y Morales, SJ, formerly Anglicized as Baltazar Gracian, was a Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud. His writings were lauded by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche...
NationalitySpanish
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth8 January 1601
CountrySpain
knowing important
Knowing how to keep a friend is more important than gaining a new one.
loss missing risk
Never risk your reputation on a single shot, for if you miss the loss is irreparable.
littles mystery veneration
Mix a little mystery with everything, for mystery arouses veneration.
inspirational pleasing-others ruling
Be known for pleasing others, especially if you govern them. Ruling other has one advantage: you can do more good than anyone else.
imitation equal predecessors
To equal a predecessor, one must have twice they worth.
truth minorities truth-is
Truth is for the minority.
integrity self judgment
Never lose your self-respect, nor be too familiar with yourself when you are alone. Let your integrity itself be your own standard of rectitude, and be more indebted to the severity of your own judgment of yourself than to all external percepts. Desist from unseemly conduct, rather out of respect for your own virtue than for the strictures of external authority.
fashion independent vote
You should aim to be independent of any one vote, of any one fashion, of any one century.
telling-the-truth caution
It requires as much caution to tell the truth as to conceal it.
wise respect men
Wise men appreciate all men, for they see the good in each and know how hard it is to make anything good.
lying exaggeration-is branches
Exaggeration is a branch of lying.
favors sides should
He who finds Fortune on his side should go briskly ahead, for she is wont to favor the bold.
wise learning thinking
Many would be wise if they did not think themselves wise.
men barbarians culture
Man is born a barbarian, and only raises himself above the beast by culture.